This property has a documented history as a bulk fuel distribution terminal going back to 1976. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property operated as the RFS Bulk Fuel Facility, a petroleum bulk plant in Kirkland with six underground storage tanks and associated piping serving a bulk fuel supply system. Cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program included the decommissioning and removal of all six USTs and piping in October 2001, over-excavation and off-site disposal of impacted soils, and a multi-year groundwater monitoring program from 2002 through 2003. The site has received a No Further Action determination from Ecology. That history could support an insurance cost recovery claim against carriers who issued insurance policies 40+ years ago.
Why Historical Insurance Policies May Be Accessible
Pre-1986 Commercial General Liability (CGL) policies were occurrence-based and did not contain an effective pollution exclusion in Washington. If contamination occurred while those policies were active, those historical insurance carriers may still have a legal obligation to fund the cleanup costs, even if the business closed or the property changed hands.
The petroleum contamination at this property originated from a bulk fuel storage and distribution system whose tanks were likely installed around 1976 — roughly a decade before occurrence-based CGL policies stopped reliably covering pollution claims in 1986. The documented remediation costs — tank and piping removal, soil excavation and disposal, and years of groundwater monitoring — were incurred to address releases tied directly to that pre-1986 operational period. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies while the bulk plant's UST system was in active use may still be obligated to cover those cleanup expenditures.
Restorical's role is to locate viable historical policies, determine whether a successful cost recovery claim is possible, and assist our clients and their legal counsel to obtain insurance coverage for costs already incurred. Restorical's forensic accounting team works to re-establish and document past cleanup expenditures, ensuring the strongest possible basis for recovery.
Recovering Costs from an Older Cleanup
If this site reached No Further Action years ago, the original cleanup expenditures may be difficult to reconstruct. Restorical's forensic accounting team specializes in re-establishing and documenting past cleanup costs — even decades later — to build the strongest possible basis for an insurance recovery claim.
What We Look For
- Historical insurance policies (pre-1986)
- Policy numbers, carrier names, and coverage periods
- Connection between contamination timing and policy period
- Evidence linking cleanup obligation to insured activity
What We Deliver
- Historical Coverage Chart
- Trigger Analysis & Property/Policy Nexus
- Coverage strategy with recommendations
- Insurance funding for your remediation
- Claims Management & Forensic Accounting
The Restorical Proven Process
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Contact UsThis analysis is preliminary and based on publicly available records. Restorical Research is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.
